Secondary resources > Geography KS3 > Africa
Overview - Climate - Water - Cities - Resources - Sustainability - Fashion
Exploring sustainable initiatives across Africa, from the creation of wind and solar projects to the management of baboon troops in Cape Town.
Climate change is causing temperatures to rise - and here in Africa, that’s happening more quickly than in many other parts of the world.
Fifty percent of the people on this continent make a living from farming the land - so we’re really vulnerable to the effects of changing weather! We need to find solutions!
Some are straightforward. in the Southern African region, we’re seeing high rates of wind and solar power installation. And clean electricity generation doesn’t just reduce our carbon emissions – it increases our energy security too.
In many places, farmers are finding ways to safeguard their harvests. Some are adapting by planting different types of seed - some come from high-tech genetic engineering research, creating highly drought-resistant plants.
Others are going back to older techniques - because the traditional, indigenous seed varieties that were used in the past, are well adapted to the local soil and the local climate - and they’re also more capable of dealing with extreme weather conditions.
But finding long term solutions is often very complicated. How do we protect our ecosystems, and meet the needs of our people, at the same time? It’s not easy!
For example, the African elephant is an endangered species and is protected across the continent. But in areas of Botswana and Zimbabwe, elephant populations are high, and life has become more dangerous for local farmers… wild elephants can be deadly!
So people are having to try new solutions - like placing bee hives around their land. That can help, because elephants are scared of bees - so a lot of the time, they stay away!
I’m here in the Cape - a very special part of the world! It has a totally unique ecosystem, with plants which don’t grow anywhere else on Earth! But as the city of Cape Town has expanded, it’s taken up a lot of land…
And that’s not just a problem for our rare plant life. Life has become more complicated for the baboon troops who live here, too.
Baboons are pretty smart, and they’ve learned that human food can be very tasty! They can easily open the doors of houses and cars, and when they’re stealing food, they can be dangerous!
We have a lot of tourists coming here, too! They’re a really important source of income for local businesses. And… tourists love baboons! They like taking photos, and feeding them! They don’t know that feeding them is illegal - and just makes their behaviour get worse.
These are problems which need local people to get involved…For example, we have staff and some volunteers who spend time following the baboons around – and stop them going towards residential areas. It’s a way of trying to protect wildlife, and the people who live here.
It’s a good example of how any sustainability project needs to be economic, social and environmental. And it’s difficult to make sure that solutions work in all three ways!
Here’s a project that’s working well – these people are working hard to get rid of trees. You might not think so - but this is actually great for the environment! Trees that naturally grow here are species which need very little water. But we’ve ended up with a lot of non-native species – they’re thirsty, and they suck up a lot of water from the ground – in an area where we already have water security problems!
Clearing away these trees, over wide areas, saves billions of litres of water every year - and keeps the rivers flowing. It’s also created hundreds of jobs for local people and makes space for indigenous trees. It truly is a sustainable solution!
The video
Achieving sustainability
Download/print a transcript of this episode (pdf).
This video explores strategies and solutions to issues associated with climate change, such as the use of renewable energy sources and planting drought resistant crops.
Chioma also explores how interactions between wildlife and humans can often pose a challenge. She describes two examples:
- In Botswana and Zimbabwe the population of African elephants has grown because the species is protected; but local farmers now face danger from the growing herds.
- In Cape Town the baboon troops have also caused issues for local people, which need to be balanced with the needs of the wildlife. The solutions to this demonstrate how sustainability projects must meet social, economic and environmental needs.
Finally, Chioma explores how non-native plants can cause environmental issues and that the removal of them is better for the environment in a variety of ways.
Teacher Notes
Download/print the Teacher Notes for this episode (pdf).
Teacher Notes prepared in partnership with the Geographical Association.
Before watching the video
- Discuss with students what the word sustainability means. Can they give examples of what it means to ‘be sustainable’?
- Can students give examples of how they try to be more sustainable in their everyday life or how their school has taken action to be more sustainable?
- Discuss why we need to become more sustainable in order to protect our environment. Ask students to record their suggestions and to add to these as they watch the film.
- Introduce key terms such as:
Climate change: the long-term shift in temperature and weather patterns.
Carbon emissions: the release of carbon compounds such as Carbon Dioxide and Methane into the atmosphere.
Indigenous: people, plants or animals native to a certain region or environment.
Endangered: when the population of a species has declined by at least 70%.
Sustainable: the practice of using natural resources responsibly so they can support the population of today and future generations.
While watching
- You may wish to stop at relevant points during this short film to pose questions and check understanding, or wait until the end. Useful questions might include:
- Which primary industry does 50% of the people living in Africa rely on?
- Give examples of renewable energy sources.
- How are farmers ensuring that their harvests will survive?
- Why is managing elephant populations a challenge?
- Why is managing the baboon troops a challenge?
- How easy is it to manage the needs of the environment with the needs of people?
- Why do the non-native trees need removing?
- Why are the trees a problem for water security?
After watching
- Introduce the concept of the three-legged sustainability stool. Each leg of the stool represents a ‘leg’ of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. What types of sustainability did the students see in the film. Discuss how challenging it is to balance the sustainability stool.
- Split the class into groups to research a range of sustainable options - such as wind farms, the use of solar panels and animal conservation areas. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods? For example, many people are against wind farms due to the impact that they have on wildlife - especially birds. Examples of wind farms in South Africa include Cookhouse Wind Farm and Dorper Wind Farm. This could also lead to an exploration of the story of William Kamkwamba, a Malawian inventor and engineer who built a wind turbine in 2011 to power multiple electrical appliances in his family’s house using scavenged parts. He then went on to build a solar powered water pump and multiple other wind turbines, including one in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi.
- Discuss how we can balance the needs of humans and animals. Is it possible to balance the needs of both? This could be turned into a debate between groups of students in the class.
Where next?
- Research further the baboon troops in Cape Town. Why are they attempting to live in the more urbanised areas of the city?
- Around the world, many animal species are leaving the wilderness and are making their way into areas of human habitation - for example, polar bears in Svalbard and Canada. Can students make the link between climate change and the movement of animals, but also how tourism may cause an issue for animal species?
- Research the native and non-native species of plants in Cape Town. Why are the non-native species there? What impact are they having? Why might some people be against the removal of non-native species?
Links
The land as a resource:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjsc87h/articles/zq7jqfr
Food resources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjsc87h/articles/zrrx2v4
Sustainable food resources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjsc87h/articles/z88nhcw
Energy resources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjsc87h/articles/z3bgvwx
Increasing energy resources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjsc87h/articles/zjp3vwx
Curriculum notes
This clip will be relevant for teaching Geography at KS3 in England and Northern Ireland, 3rd/4th Level in Scotland and Progression Step 4 in Wales.
In the English National Curriculum this video can be used to help teach the following:
- Using maps of the world to focus on Africa, focusing on the environmental regions, hot deserts, key physical features, countries and major cities.
- Understand geographical similarities, differences and links between places through the study of human and physical geography of a region within Africa.
- Human geography related to population and urbanisation.
- Human geography related to economic activity and the use of natural resources.
- Understanding how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate, and how human activity relies on effective functioning of natural systems.
Resources
Teacher Notes
Download/print the Teacher Notes for this episode (pdf).
Transcript
Download/print the transcript for this episode (pdf).
Secondary resources > Geography KS3 > Africa
Overview - Climate - Water - Cities - Resources - Sustainability - Fashion
